Sunday 25 September 2016

FRANCE AND THE GREAT WAR

I've wanted to do a collage dedicated to France's First World War experience for a long time now.
And after my last visit there last month I've once more been inspired...

On my original 1914-18 collage, the starting point was the ordinary Tommy. I deliberately chose at random, from a selection of WW1 postcards in an antiques shop, a portrait of a soldier to represent the Unknown Warrior.  
I was really keen to do this for the French collage as well, again at random. And whilst visiting a brocante fair in Auvergne I managed to find a tiny Carte de Visite card, in amongst a huge stall, with a picture of a French soldier. An anonymous face from the past to represent the ordinary Poilu. 





France's relationship and memory of the First World War is much different to our own. To us it was mostly an overseas war, but to the French it was a direct attack on their own homeland.
We have the Somme and Passchendaele, while they have the crushingly senseless slaughter of Verdun as their focus of remembrance.

As such their memorials have a subtle difference to our own. Having been to France many times I've studied them and noticed they can be dramatic with figures in exaggerated poses with a defiant air about them. A sense of victory sometimes seems to be the focus. Ours are often sombre and reflective.


The defiant pose of a soldier's head on the memorial at St Jacques des Blats, with the wording 'Hardi les Gars', which has the rough translation of 'Take courage and go forward lads'.

Again, an exaggerated pose on this memorial at the village of Job.


I'll be rooting around the ArtPix Archives for all the items of French World War I memorabilia I've got, including medals, postcards, books and many, many photographs.


My original First World War collage.





Friday 16 September 2016

RETRO LEICESTER CITY

Pleased to say I sold my first LEICESTER CITY frame this week!!!

My brand new design of the Premier League Champions is a retro tribute to the fantastic Foxes. It features many old faves who've valiantly served Leicester down the years.

I'm hoping to get down to my unit at The Customs House in West Bay, Dorset soon to restock all things Retro Football, so I'll be adding more Leicester frames then.

There are still some groovy fridge magnets featuring Foxes legends Frank Worthington and Alan Birchenall in there though, if you want one of those!

Check them out below...


The two different fridge magnet designs with the Leicester legends!

The retro Leicester City design, available in an A4 frame from my unit at The Customs House, West Bay.

Wednesday 7 September 2016

IS IT ALL BLACK + WHITE?

I'll be at this very special event this Saturday...


A fabulous FREE festival with live performances of electronic and choir music.

Staged at the atmospheric St. Leonard's Church in Shoreditch, London, it's organised by the amazing band Autorotation. 
It will also include DJs and visuals and will be a unique and powerful musical experience.

And that's not all...!

I'll be there alongside Arcane Publishing with a stall full of fantastic stuff!!
It's been a while since I've set up a stall in London, so I'm really looking forward to this event.
I've really raided the ArtPix Archives and pulled out some stunning vintage items that I've been keeping back for such an occasion. Also, I've got together a selection of my own work to put on show.

Arcane Publishing will not only have their own published books, but will have their usual array of gorgeous and hard-to-find vintage books, plus a few surprises!!

So saunter on down to Shoreditch this Saturday, and immerse yourself in beautiful music and a little bit of vintage shopping!

Take an exclusive peek here at some of the goodies on offer...!

A fantastic 1960s Crown 8 Cine Camera, that still works!

A 1979 reprint of an iconic 1931 London Transport poster.

A 1970 Kodak Instamatic 133 camera that absolutely screams RETRO!!

A rare boxed Matchbox car from the late 60s.

An original French cinema poster from the 1967 film, A Challenge for Robin Hood.

And here is a sample of my own work, a tribute to the glamour years of 1930s cinema.